


Returning, Separating

by elynne



Category: World of Warcraft
Genre: Based on RP events, Cooking, Gen, Irreconcilable Differences, Leaving Home, Thunder Bluff, coming home, painful emotional talking, relationship angst, sometimes relationships just don't work out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-29
Updated: 2017-07-29
Packaged: 2018-12-08 14:02:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11648046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elynne/pseuds/elynne
Summary: The hardest part of coming home is when you know it's not really your home any more.





	Returning, Separating

The Wolfmane tribe was already gathering in preparations to depart Crossroads when Khydann ran up, breathless. Nobody commented on her tardiness, so she didn't have to give the excuse that she'd been out training Tsaarak and had lost track of time. She picked up the kodo she'd requested from the stables and took her place in the caravan as it set off into the Barrens. Tsaarak easily trotted alongside the kodo, happier to walk than be carried for the time being.

It was a clear day, but swift cooling breezes kept it from being too sweltering hot as they crossed the grasslands. Although Khydann eyed the kolkar tribe they passed, evidently their party was too large, healthy, and well-armed for the savage centaurs to attempt attacking. Khydann was almost disappointed. She always relished a chance to take down a few of the filthy beasts.

When they came to the hills, Khydann realized her mistake in taking a kodo from the stables. She should have chosen one of the tawny riding wolves instead, a mount she was long familiar with. This kodo seemed to be having difficulty with the slopes, clambering up and sliding down them awkwardly, bumping the other riders and walkers along the way. She hadn't ridden one of the beasts in years, and it showed in her lack of expertise handling the thing. On the other hand, it kept her mind occupied, which kept her from thinking about the tribe's destination--Thunder Bluff.

As the tribe cleared the gate and entered the green valley of Mulgore, Khydann took a deep breath of air, relishing the scent of water and grass, and let it out with a contented sigh. But the closer they got to the bluffs, the more tense she became. As they approached the elevators, she dismounted, leading the kodo and scooping Tsaarak up and into the pouch she'd crafted for the fledgling raptor. Once they'd ridden the elevator up, she handed the kodo's reins off to a bluffwatcher to return to the stables, and followed the tribe as they walked through the town, hoping they wouldn't be heading to Elder Rise.

She was relieved when they detoured to a lodge on the main bluff, which had evidently been the Wolfmane tribe's home when there had been fewer members. The building quickly filled to overflowing with the current tribe. Blackwolf, who had been leading the expedition, let them know that they were free to stay in the lodge or find shelter elsewhere on the bluff, and most of the tribe soon dispersed to their own pursuits. Khydann stayed with several others in the lodge, listening to stories, but her attention was sorely divided. It wasn't too long before she edged out of the gathering behind several other bulls, and made her way towards Elder Rise.

As she walked the familiar path behind the main lodge, her steps gradually slowed. She could smell the enticing scents of expert cooking before rounding the bend and coming in sight of the familiar small tent that seemed to lean precariously over the cliff's drop at the farthest eastern edge of Thunder Bluff. 

Another Shu'halo emerged from the tent, a young heifer carrying a basket that contained several sealed clay pots. She called a farewell over her shoulder to the interior of the tent, and smiled brilliantly at Khydann as she walked past. Khydann gave a friendly greeting and nod in return, covering the sudden lurch in her heart as she approached the last few yards to the tent's entrance.

With the tent flap open, her shadow against the setting sun was enough to alert the inhabitant that he had another visitor. "Come in," the familiar, deep voice rumbled. "I just sent out the last batch of deliveries, but I always make enough for a few extra meals for latecomers."

Khydann took a deep breath and stepped inside. It took a few moments for the black-furred bull to look up, and when he did his ears flicked upright and he snorted in surprise, but almost immediately was on his hooves and lunging forward to scoop her up in a tight hug. "Khy!" he said, holding her back again to look at her and smiling widely. "It's so good to see you! How have you been? Did you go to those demon islands? Did you bring me any interesting new ingredients? Sit down, let me feed you!"

Laughing, she held the bull's forearms in a close, familiar grip for a moment. "It's good to see you too, Roshanar. I do have some spices I think you might like, in fact." 

Settling down on the guest mat, Khydann accepted a wooden bowl full of fragrant vegetables and thin strips of marinated kodo meat, then took a thin circle of fried grain from the platter that rested in the steam over the fire. She was a little surprised at how deftly she assembled the hand roll, habits from meals years past coming back to guide her hands once again. "The demon islands are terrible," she said as she folded the roll together. "Well.. parts of them are. Parts of them are beautiful--have you heard of the tauren there, in Highmountain?"

"Some," the bull replied as he returned to his own work, turning strips of meat on a flat rock grill. "I heard the bulls have antlers, like those large deer--moose, are they called?"

Khydann nodded, then swallowed her bite of food. "They're not as different from us as the Taunka of Northrend, really. Highmountain is beautiful, and there's some very nice parts of the islands. But they're still fighting the demons, and... it got messy, and complicated, the way it always does." 

Roshanar chuckled. "And I'm sure the Alliance got upset about some imagined slight, and we're at war with them again?" At Khydann's nod he sighed, shaking his head. "You might think they would learn to trust our good intentions. But I suppose I can't blame them too much, after Garrosh's folly, and our own in allowing him to lead us astray. Or even before that, the debacle at Wrathgate."

With her last bite of the roll, Khydann set the bowl aside and picked up the cleaning cloth that hung steaming near the fire. She wiped her hands, then returned the cloth and took a deep breath. "I've joined the Wolfmane tribe," she said, somewhat abruptly.

Roshanar blinked and tilted his head. "I've heard a little of them," he said thoughtfully. "Good things. They aren't a mercenary group like Bad Moon Rising was, are they?"

"No, they're... just a Shu'halo tribe, trying to follow the old ways." She gave him a small smile. "I think you'd like them, Rosh."

The black bull nodded, but rolled his shoulders in a half-shrug. "I'd be happy to meet them... if you want. But I'm not going to join them."

"I know, I didn't..." Khydann trailed off and shook her head in frustration. "They're staying here in Thunder Bluff, but only temporarily--they have a settlement in the Barrens that they were displaced from when the demons invaded, and they're hoping to clean it up and return there as soon as possible, and I know you want to stay here."

"You could stay here too, of course," Roshanar said, his voice a quiet rumble.

Khydann felt her shoulders tense, but made an effort to relax, sipping from the cup of fragrant tea she'd been given along with the food. "I can't stay here. You know that. We've talked about this."

"I know you can't have calves of your own, but there's always so many that need homes." The bull's voice was almost pleading, but also had a note of resignation. "Children displaced by war, all across the land, from other lands."

"I don't want to raise a child again!" Khydann was almost as startled by her own shout as Roshanar looked, his ears flat and eyes wide. She took another deep breath, trying to calm herself. "I'm--not likely to stay with the Wolfmane in their new village very much, you know I prefer to explore and travel. And... they have calves in their tribe, and seeing them just..." She shrugged, feeling helpless to explain herself. "I'm glad for those who have them and are happy, but it's not something I want. Having a hunting partner again is enough." She gestured at the fledgling in its sling, still sleeping soundly. "Maybe later I'd want more, but not now. And it's not fair to make you wait, when you know what you want, and it's not something I can give you."

Roshanar leaned back with a sigh. His nostrils flared, and he turned aside to remove the last of the cooking food from the grill, transferring it carefully to clay pots with a pair of wooden tongs. "I know," he said, so quietly that it was almost lost in the hissing of the fire. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't... I just... miss you."

Tears welled in Khydann's eyes, and she wiped them away with a quick gesture. "I miss you too," she replied in the same low tones. "But I can't stay in one place, and I can't give you the family you want."

They sat silently for a while as shadows gathered outside the firelight. Khydann's ear flicked at the sound of hesitant hoofsteps outside, and she lifted her head to smile at Roshanar. "It sounds like you have another guest," she said quietly, nodding back over her shoulder. "Perhaps that young assistant I passed by earlier?" At his embarrassed shuffle, she grinned more widely. "It's hard to tell in the firelight, but it looks like the tips of your ears are going pink..."

"Weriki is just helping me out," he said a little too quickly. "She's very interested in learning to cook."

"I'm sure she is," Khydann replied archly as she stood up, still smiling. Tsarrak wriggled at the motion and gave a quiet peep, but settled down again at a reassuring touch. 

Roshanar stood up with her and moved around the fire. The two Shu'halo looked at each other in silence for a long moment before Khydann raised her arms. The bull gripped her forearms in the formal gesture of greeting and farewell, then hesitantly pulled her into another hug. Khydann hugged him back, burying her muzzle in his chest fur. "Come back and visit when you can," he rumbled in a near whisper.

"You'd better have a mate and a calf on the way when I do," she replied, working hard to keep a teasing note in her voice as she hoped her tears wouldn't leave too much of a wet mark on his chest.

She stepped back from the hug. Roshanar released her, letting his hand trail down her arm before completely letting go. Taking another deep breath to cover her sniffle, Khydann smiled at him in the firelight and then quickly stepped outside, almost running directly into the Shu'halo heifer she'd passed earlier in the evening.

"You're Weriki, yes?" she asked with a smile. The grey-spotted Shu'halo nodded hesitantly, but smiled a little in return. "Roshanar is waiting for you. Oh... blast, I forgot to give him this." Khydann took a small bag out of her pouch and offered it out. "Some spices from the islands," she explained as Weriki tooki the bag. "The farn... skaggle is good, but impossible to pronounce. I'm sure he'll be able to create some delicious new meals with them."

Weriki's smile widened and she nodded her head. "Thank you," she said in a quiet, low voice. "It was good to meet you, traveler."

"And it was good to meet you too," Khydann said sincerely as she stepped aside. They passed in the darkness and Khydann made her way out of the shadow of the elder's lodge, glad that her tears didn't show in the darkness.


End file.
